Hay baling machine

ABSTRACT

A machine for forming round bales of hay including a frame detachably connected to a three point hitch on a tractor and rearwardly extending arms are pivoted between an operational lower position to a raised upper position by a hydraulic cylinder such that a continuous flexible pickup chain extending over triangularly disposed rollers carried on the side members will be moved out of contact with the formed bale of hay when the side members are pivoted to the raised position. The continuous pickup member operates continuously in both the raised and lowered positions.

United States Patent Beebout 1 Aug. 1, 1972 [54] HAY BALING MACHINE [72]Inventor: Howard E. Beebout,

Columbia, Iowa 50057 22 Filed: Sept. 18,1970

211 Appl. No.: 73,475

Route 1,

52] U.s.c1. ..56/l6.4,56/1,56/l5.9, 56/341 51 Im. c1. ..A0ld 75/00 58Field of Search ..56/6, 15.9, 16.1, 16.4, 341, 56/504,505

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,110,145 12/1963 Avery..56/l6.4 X

Primary Examiner-Louis G. Mancene Assistant Examiner-J. A. OliffAttorney-Zarley, McKee & Thomte [57] ABSTRACT A machine for forminground bales of hay including a frame detachably connected to a threepoint hitch on a tractor and rearwardly extending arms are pivotedbetween an operational lower position to a raised upper position by ahydraulic cylinder such that a continuous flexible pickup chainextending over triangularly disposed rollers carried on the side memberswill be moved out of contact with the formed bale of hay when the sidemembers are pivoted to the raised position. The continuous pickup memberoperates continuously in both the raised and lowered positions.

8 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures 1 HAY BALING MACHINE The hay baling machinesheretofore available for forming round bales have been objectionablycomplicated and expensive.

The hay baling machine of this invention may be readily carried on thethree point hitch of a tractor and operated by the power take-off of thetractor. A single hydraulic cylinder will raise and lower the machine toeject a formed bale and a continuous flexible pickup member may beoperated continuously at all times whether the machine is in theoperational lower position or in the raised position when ejecting abale of hay. The machine involves no doors or latches or clutches forexample and thus provides a round hay baling machine simple in designand low in cost.

The frame is carried on the three point hitch and includes rearwardlyand downwardly extending oppositely disposed side members on which arecarried first and second rollers adjacent the pivotal axis of the sidemembers and the ground respectively. These rollers are stationaryrelative to each other and pivot up and down with the side members inresponse to the operation of the hydraulic cylinder anchored to theframe and connected to a cross member interconnecting the side members.A third roller is spring biased on an arm for movement towards and awayfrom the plane of the first and second rollers such that as the bale ofhay is formed between the first and second rollers and the flexiblepickup member is deflected out of the plane the third roller whichmaintains the pickup member taut about the rollers is moved toward theplane of the first and second rollers to compensate for the size of thebale of hay. being formed.

The continuous pickup member being operated continuously in the loweredto raised positions does not drag on the bale of hay when the machine ispivoted upwardly. If desired the machine may be dropped back down over abale of hay to continue the rolling of the bale. A pair of oppositelydisposed skid members are provided for engagement with the ground oneach of the oppositely disposed side members.

This invention consists in the construction, arrangements andcombination of the various parts of the device, whereby the objectscontemplated are attained as hereinafter more fully set forth,specifically pointed out in the claims, and illustrated in theaccompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary perspective view of the hay baling machine ofthis invention in operation;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary top plan view thereof;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectionalview taken along line 3-3 in FIG. 2; and

FIG. 4 is a reduced in scale fragmentary side elevation view of the haybaling machine in a raised position.

The hay baling machine of this invention is referred to generally inFIG. 1 by the reference numeral 10, and is carried on a tractor 12having a three point hitch 14, a power take-off drive shaft 16 fordriving the pickup conveyor 18 through a gear box 20, a transverselyextending shaft 22 and a belt drive 24.

The hay baling machine includes a main cross frame member 26 havingoppositely disposed downwardly extending hitch members 28 interconnectedby a transversely extending shaft 30 to the clevis portions 32 on thelower members of the three point hitch 14. An upstanding standard 34includes spaced apart portions extending on opposite sides of the uppermember of the three point hitch 14. A forwardly extending portion 36 isprovided on the top end of the upright standard 34 and includes afurther upstanding portion 38 from. which a double acting hydrauliccylinder 40.extends rearwardly for connection with a post 42 on atransversely extending cross member 44 towards the rear of the balingmachine 10. The cross member 44 stands rigidly between a pair ofrearwardly extending side members 46 and 48 pivotally connected about anaxis extending through the forward and upper roller shaft 50 which inturn extends through the outer free ends of rearwardly and upwardlyextending outwardly oppositely disposed frame portions 52 and 54.

The side members 46 and 48 form oppositely disposed side walls having aroller shaft 56 at the rear adjacent the ground 58 over which the pickuphay rolling member 18 extends. A third roller shaft 58 is providedupwardly and outwardly of the plane of the rollers on the shafts 50 and56 and is carried on an arm 60 pivoted about an axis 62 and biasedoutwardly as seen in FIG. 3 by a pair of oppositely disposed springs 64.

A ground engaging runner 66 is provided on each side of the machinealong the lower edge of the side walls and a depth control cross member68 extends laterally between the side walls at the rear end of themachine 10.

The power take-ofi" powered continuous flexible hay rolling pickup 18includes drive chains 70 and 72 on opposite sides extending around theroller shafts 50, 56

and 58. A plurality of cross members 74 are conveniently secured to thedrive chains 70 and 72 and include spring teeth 76 spaced along theirlength.

In operation it is seen that the hay baling machine for forming roundbales 80, as seen in FIG. 4, is carried entirely on the three pointhitch 14 of the tractor 12 although the rear end of the machinenecessarily glides over the ground on the runners 66 and is preventedfrom digging into the ground by a cross depth control member 68. Theheight of the machine over the ground can be effectively controlled byoperation of the three point hitch. The angle of the machine relative tothe hitch can be determined by operation of the double acting powercylinder 40 and thus the machine may be in ground engagement as seen inFIGS. 1 and 3 or in its raised position of FIG. 4 through operation ofthe power cylinder 40. The pickup chain 18 is continuously operatedthrough the power take-off shaft 16 in both the raised and loweredpositions of FIG. 4 and FIG. 3 respectively.

- As the bale 80 is being formed the portion of the chain extendingbetween the rollers on theshafts 50 and 56 deflects upwardly andrearwardly as seen in FIG. 3 and to compensate for this the roller onthe chain shaft 58 moves forwardly and downwardly toward the planebetween the shafts 50 and 56. This is permitted by the springs 64tending to bias the roller on I the shaft 58 away from the bale of haythus keeping the conveyor pickup chain 18 taut The dash line positionsshown in FIG. 3 illustrate the respective positions of the pickup chainvwhen the bale 80 has been substantially formed compared to the solidline representation indicating its size early in the formation. Upon thebale of hay reaching the desired size in diameter, the operator of thetractor 12 merely operates the hydraulic cylinder 40 to raise the haybaling machine by pivoting it upwardly about an axis through the frontand upper roller shaft 50 as seen in FIG. 4. In this raised position thepickup chain 18 continues at the same speed and passes over the formedbale of hay 80 whereupon the machine is immediately dropped to theground again through operation of the, hydraulic cylinder 40 whereupon anew bale of hay is formed. The procedure is continued over again foreach bale of hay. It is appreciated that the hay may be in windrow formor loose on the ground and be picked up by the hay baling machine ofthis invention. If necessary, the hay baling machine may be returned tore-engage a bale of hay on the ground and the rolling process of thebale of hay may be continued by moving the tractor forward. It is thusseen that there are a minimum number of component parts involved in the.hay baling machine of this invention and the speed of the conveyingchain 18 does not have to be varied or stopped at any time which greatlysimplifies the operation since the machine is lifted up and over thebale of hay after it has been completely formed. It has been found thatbest results are obtained when the speed of the pickup chain is 90percent of the forward speed of the hay baling machine since a tighterbale is formed and it tends to force the bale to the rear of the machinepreventing it from being kicked out the front end of the baling machine;

It is also understood that an automatic timing devicecould beincorporated into the hydraulic circuitry operating the lifting cylinder40 to make it periodically operate thereby forming bales and releasingthem at predetermined intervals of time which may be selectively variedaccording to the density of the hay. Additionally, the pickup member, ifdesired, may be stopped after the formation of each bale although thisis not necessary as the machine is lifted over the bale as it is beingdischarged.

lclaim:

l. A tractor having a three-point hitch and hay baling machine forforming round bales comprising,

said baling machine having a frame pivotally supported by and connectedto said hitch, said frame including oppositely disposed side members,

power means for operating said hitch to raise and lower said balingmachine,

a power cylinder connected at its forward end to said hitch and at itsrear end to said baling machine frame remotely of said hitch connectionto said baling machine frame for pivoting said baling machine up anddown between a raised bale ei s rin biased to aintain said continuousileiiigle hay rolling mem er tight over a hay bale and bias said thirdroller on said arm to pivot towards the plane of said first and secondrollers as said round bale is being formed, said first and secondrollers always being stationary relative to each other. 2. The structureof claim 1 wherein said powered continuous flexible hay rolling memberis continuously operated during pivotal movement between said baleforming position and said bale discharge position.

3. The structure of claim 2 wherein said hitch and frame include anupstanding post to which said forward end of said power cylinder issecured. and said power cylinder extends rearwardly over said continuousflexible member. v

4. The structure of claim 2 wherein the powered continuous flexible hayrolling member is adapted to be powered by the power take-off on theprime mover and the speed of said continuous member is directly relatedto the forward speed of said prime mover.

5. The structure of claim 1 wherein said third roller islocated-relative to said first and second rollers such that as said baleof hay being formed becomes larger said continuous flexible memberbetween said first and said second rollers is deflected towards saidthird roller which is being simultaneously moved towards the plane ofsaid first and said second rollers to compensate for the size of thebale of hay.

6. The structure of claim 5 wherein said first, second and third rollersare substantially arranged in triangular relationship before and duringthe formation of a bale of hay.

7. The structure of claim 9 wherein said oppositely disposed sidemembers include runners for engagement with the ground. v

8. The structure of claim 1 wherein the axis of pivotal movement of saidside members is coincident to the axis of rotation of said first roller.

1. A tractor having a three-point hitch and hay baling machine forforming round bales comprising, said baling machine having a framepivotally supported by and connected to said hitch, said frame includingoppositely disposed side members, power means for operating said hitchto raise and lower said baling machine, a power cylinder connected atits forward end to said hitch and at its rear end to said baling machineframe remotely of said hitch connection to said baling machine frame forpivoting said baling machine up and down between a raised bale dischargeposition and a lowered bale forming position, and said baling machineincluding on said frame a powered continuous flexible hay rolling memberextending around a plurality of spaced apart rollers extending betweensaid side members and including a first roller spaced adjacent saidhitch and above a second roller positioned adjacent the ground in saidbale forming position when hay is being rolled into a bale, and a thirdroller disposed between and out of the plane of said first and secondrollers, said third roller carried on an arm being spring biased tomaintain said continuous flexible hay rolling member tight over a haybale and bias said third roller on said arm to pivot towards the planeof said first and second rollers as said round bale is being formed,said first and second rollers always being stationary relative to eachother.
 2. The structure of claim 1 wherein said powered continuousflexible hay rolling member is continuously operated during pivotalmovement between said bale forming position and said bale dischargeposition.
 3. The structure of claim 2 wherein said hitch and frameinclude an upstanding post to which said forward end of said powercylinder is secured and said power cylinder extends rearwardly over saidcontinuous flexible member.
 4. The structure of claim 2 wherein thepowered continuous flexible hay rolling member is adapted to be poweredby the power take-off on the prime mover and the speed of saidcontinuous member is directly related to the forward speed of said primemover.
 5. The structure of claim 1 wherein said third roller is locatedrelative to said first and second rollers such that as said bale of haybeing formed becomes larger said continuous flexible member between saidfirst and said second rollers is deflected towards said third rollerwhich is beiNg simultaneously moved towards the plane of said first andsaid second rollers to compensate for the size of the bale of hay. 6.The structure of claim 5 wherein said first, second and third rollersare substantially arranged in triangular relationship before and duringthe formation of a bale of hay.
 7. The structure of claim 9 wherein saidoppositely disposed side members include runners for engagement with theground.
 8. The structure of claim 1 wherein the axis of pivotal movementof said side members is coincident to the axis of rotation of said firstroller.